After resting for a day, Allen returned to Dawnblade to report. This time the autumn hunting has been quite fruitful, and Leon has come forward to take care of the dangerous species that are full of spaceship warehouses. After deducting the cost of labor and sales/sales, the net profit will be divided between two people. Among them, Leon naturally gets 30% and Alan gets 70%. In addition, Leon gave Alan the prizes from his autumn hunting as promised, but considering that Leon had not gotten much from selling those dangerous species for him, it was not easy for Alan to accept him. Everything, so I only took a second-grade magic weapon.
Allen wanted to return the other things to Leon, but Leon refused, and the two argued about it. In the end, it was decided that in the names of the two of them, this part of the prizes would be distributed to those young masters and ladies who got nothing after the ten autumn hunts. So this year's autumn hunting, almost everyone has gained a lot, and it has also earned enough reputation for Alan and Leon.
Two days after Allen returned to the academy, early in the morning, the people up and down in Ugal Castle were busy almost early. Residents of the small town of Levin saw speeding cars passing by one after another on the road leading to the castle through the town. There are different coats of arms on those flying cars, and these coats of arms represent those important clan relatives in the Bethkind family.
These clansmen are usually scattered all over the surface of the earth, each with their own property. If Beth Kede is an ancient tree, then these clan relatives are the roots that extend to the depth of the ground. A single branch of them may not be of much importance, but when they are together, they are the cornerstone of the huge Bethkind family. Only when the elders meeting is held, these clan elders will rush back from the surface and return to the origin of the Ugal Castle, the family.
The parking lot outside the castle was full of speeding cars, and the additional family guards were sent to stand by their posts, forming a tight protection net. After the clan elders came to Babylon, their safety was fully entrusted to the master. Bethkind has many friends and enemies, but this is Babylon after all. Under the eyes of the federal government, normally, no one would have the audacity to openly attack Bethkind's family dignitaries. But Horn still sent guards to escort the whole process, and even transferred another secret warrior Fording back to sit in charge.
The only remaining three secret warriors, Blood Scorpion Anna is good at assassination, intelligence gathering and other tasks; Spearman Fording is the strongest of the three, and he was already a 25-level awakener when he followed Horn on the expedition to Outland. As for now, no one knows the depth of his strength, and it is not surprising that he has advanced to the top level of the ruler or ancestor; although the last sword general, Baroque, is slightly weaker than Fording, he is versatile in both civil and military affairs. In terms of soldiers and wars, Fording can't keep up with flattery. Therefore, Horn entrusted him with an important task, and he was unable to participate in this elder meeting because he had another important position.
The security work of the Presbyterian Church is presided over by Fording, and Horn is very relieved. Bethkind's official elder meeting is held every five years, and some important proposals are resolved through video conferences on weekdays, and it is not necessary for all the elders to be present, only three to five elders serving as executive directors are required to pass. For example, Allen's resource allocation plan can only be implemented after being approved by Horn and the other three directors.
The elders’ meeting held every five years is much more formal. All sixteen family elders of Bethkind must attend. After all, the agenda of the elders’ meeting, which will last for three days, involves the future development of the family, strategic adjustments, and the appointment and scheduling of important members. And family newsletters, etc. This is related to the interests of every elder, the clan behind him, and even every clan member, so it must not be sloppy.
As the master, but also
Horn, the head of the clan, arrived at the top floor of the main building early. The banquet hall on the top floor is connected to the meeting hall where the elders will be held, and there is a wooden door with iron edges between the two halls. During the period of the Presbyterian Meeting, the banquet hall will also be open at the same time, so that the entourage of each clan can enjoy self-service food and wine in the hall at any time.
There is another passage to the meeting hall, and Horn and the housekeeper Heixing arrived earlier. The guards opened the gate for the two of them, and a hall with a total area of 500 square meters appeared in Horn's eyes. On both sides of the middle wall of the hall, Beth Kede's Gryphon battle flag was hung, and in the middle were portraits of the patriarchs of all ages. . A hundred years from Horn's time, his portrait will also be among them. As for now, it's still a little early from that time.
In the middle of the hall is a long lightning rock table. The Lightning Rock is a product of one of Bethkind's family colonization stars. It is named because the stone has a natural texture like lightning. The stone table was carved and polished from a huge raw stone, and it was a seamless piece, with no gaps that could be found. Sixteen dark red suede chairs are arranged on two sides, which are the positions of the elders.
As for Horn, his position is in the middle of the long table, with his back facing the family battle flag and the portrait wall.
On the dome of the hall, an ancient and intricately patterned chandelier hangs in the middle. In the past, a candle the size of a child's arm was lit for each of the exquisite candlesticks. Of course, its function has now been replaced by several groups of crystal wall lamps on the wall of the hall, leaving only the role of decoration and commemorative significance.
Even though this hall is only used once every five years, it is still spotless now. Horn walked to the front of the portrait wall, and his eyes swept over the portraits of the patriarchs of the past. I stayed for a while on the second last portrait, the man in that portrait was somewhat similar to Horn. He stared with both eyes, as if looking forward to the future of the family. The painter's painting skills are indeed excellent, even though it is only a portrait, the expression of this person's eyes is very vivid.
This is the previous patriarch and Horn's father. Below the portrait is a line of small characters, with a name written on it: Charles Bethkind.
"You know, Haixin. Back then, my father didn't think highly of me, because I was more interested in the pursuit of power than family management and power tactics. At that time, my father thought I was a martial artist, and he often said that a martial artist is At that time, I didn’t take it seriously because I couldn’t lead the whole family. I even confronted him often. He asked me to read more books on management and politics, and I applied for expeditions to foreign lands.” Horn smiled and shook his head: “But it turns out that my father was right. Leading the whole family, relying on force alone is not enough. But strong force can't hurt, at least after I returned to Babylon, it allowed me to survive the plots and attacks of several fellow brothers, and finally took over my father's job .”
Haixin bowed his head and refused to comment.
Power struggles have always been bloody and cruel. Whether it is the president of the Federation or the patriarch of the family, who dares to say that his hands are not stained with the blood of competitors? Take Horn as an example, if he hadn't killed several of his own brothers, how could he be in his current position.
Next to a portrait of Horne's father, there is a vacant frame. There is no drawing paper in the picture frame, only a small sign with Horn's name on it is stapled under the picture frame. This is the position reserved for Horn's portrait. After his death, the portrait that has been prepared early in the morning will be mounted in the frame. Horn reached out his hand, touched the wall next to his portrait, and said, "I hope that the next day after me
A place where Allen's portrait will be placed. "
Hai Xin lowered her head even lower, and tried her best not to hear what Horn was saying. Even if he likes the young master Alan quite a lot, but Alan will enter the line of heirs at the end of the day, he has to maintain his current position and try to avoid inadvertently leaking certain information from his mouth. As the housekeeper of this family, Haixin knew very well what he could say and what he had to rot in his stomach.
The door opened, and heavy footsteps sounded. When Horn turned his head, his sight was filled with a figure as tall as a hill. The man, like a lumbering bear, moved his steps with difficulty, opened his hands and shouted with a red face: "Hey, Horn. My dear patriarch and brother, I haven't seen you for five years. I'm so jealous. , Why didn’t you get hacked by the Blade Demon back then, or else I wouldn’t have to see me who is gaining weight from your too bright eyes every time I see you!”
"Damn Edrick, you should keep your mouth shut. Looking at your figure, I really doubt that the blood flowing in your veins is grease instead of blood." Horn also laughed, and symbolically said to the fat man hugged. After all, the other party's body was so fat that Horn couldn't close his hands at all.
Hai Xin also came over, bowed to the fat man and said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Edric, you look very healthy."
Edrick patted Heissing happily, and said to Horn: "Look at Mr. Heissing, this is called a greeting. It's not like you cursed me as soon as you came up."
Horn shook his head and laughed, "It's just that you can't understand my concern."
"Chief Horne is right, Edric, we'd all be glad if you had as much sense of humor as you have fat."
After fat Edrick, a thin old man walked in with his hands behind his back. His figure was stooped, and his sallow skin was tightly attached to his skull-shaped face. When he speaks, you can see the yellow and half-rotted teeth, all of which make him look like a zombie just crawled out of the grave.
"Welcome, Uncle Baker." Horn nodded.
Edric put away his smile and said coldly: "I'm so glad to see you again, Uncle Baker. I thought you wouldn't be able to come this year, but I didn't expect you to be in the coffin."
"Don't worry, Edric. When I die, I will definitely send you an obituary." Not paying attention to the fat man's disrespect, the old man went straight to the first chair on the right.
Edric's eyelids twitched, and he swayed to the opposite side of the old man, trying to squeeze his body into a high chair that could fit two people.
As soon as the fat man took his seat, another figure flashed in from outside the gate. He is about the same age as Horth, but he wears a very exaggerated dress, and an exaggerated afro is still eye-catching. The man twirled a golden cane in his hand, coupled with all kinds of gemstone rings on his fingers, he looked like an upstart on the surface. But such a tasteless guy is indeed Tyre, one of Bethkind's elders.
Tell lightly licked his well-groomed mustache: "It seems that I am late this year, Edrick and Uncle Baker, why are you still alive? This really makes me so sad."
Both Edric and Baker snorted, Horn shook his head and looked at Hexin, both of them smiled helplessly. So far, the three most important elders of the side branch clans have all arrived.
(end of this chapter)